Read More

Rapid right-winger Day, who died on Sunday at the age of 81, grew up in the Newport area of Middlesbrough and went to Hugh Bell School.

“He was a local lad like the rest of us and he loved playing for the club,” recalled Peacock. “We all did.

“I was from North Ormesby, Cloughie was from Grove Hill, Billy was from Newport and Derek McLean was from Brotton. There was only Eddie Holliday of that front five that wasn’t local. He was from Barnsley. He was practically a foreigner.”

Billy Day (Image: Peter Reimann)

Day was so important to the Boro attacking line-up that when he was doing his National Service the club shelled out to fly him in from Germany.

“It used to cost the club a tenner which was a fair bit in those days,” explained Peacock.

“We all did our National Service at some point in those few years but you would come home at the weekend and play. We used to get £1 retainer and £6 a match.

“But me and Derek McLean were only coming from Catterick and Cloughie from the Midlands and we used get a travel warrant.

“But Billy was in the tank regiment in Germany and they had to make special arrangements. It cost a fortune but he was worth it because he was putting the crosses in.”

Day lost his place in the team after suffering a broken leg. He signed for Newcastle for £12,000 in 1962 and then had spells at Peterborough and Cambridge before retiring at 29 following a bout of pneumonia.

He launched a new career as a bookmaker and was a familiar figure on greyhound stadiums and racecourses across the north for decades.

“We always kept in touch, “ said Peacock.

Read More

“I actually saw him just a few weeks ago. I went to visit him in his nursing home near the Highfield. When I went in he got up and jogged off down the corridor and then back and he laughed and said: “See Peachy, I’ve still got it.

“He was a lovely fella and good company. He will be sadly missed.”

Billy’s funeral will take place at 2.30pm on Monday, February 5 at Middlesbrough Crematorium on Acklam Road.